Batgirl Annual Vol 4 3
On her latest mission, Batgirl finds herself mixing it up with Helena Bertinelli of Spyral…but who is the mysterious Spyral agent who seems to be one step ahead of her at every turn without ever showing his face? She’s determined to crack this mystery – but Grayson is just as determined not to get caught! Plus: Batgirl visits Gotham Academy – and there are plenty of surprises in store for her! Summary of Stephness: As Barbara Gordon chases a mysterious female terrorist, she is expertly clothes lined by a familiar eggplant-clad avenger. Steph is ecstatic, leaping in the air and throwing out V for Victory fingers, until Babs gives her the old leg sweep. Steph mutters about, "I need to add more padding to the pants-butt." Babs, irritated, asks her what is her point. Steph eagerly says, "Training!", explaining that "Teach" (Eiko from Catwoman #42) told her to spar with other heroes. While in Babs' headlock, Steph is enthused by Babs' tracking wristband. Babs says that if Steph wants training, she can help her take down the terrorist. After a brief mistaken identification by Steph, Babs tells her to stay back, but Steph has already leapt into the fray. Though Babs' reactions to Steph's fight are comical, she trusts Steph, and the younger hero brings back the terrorist by herself, no assistance needed. After giving Steph a tip to keep her game face on in front of criminals, Babs gets the information she needs, and tells Steph to give the terrorist to the authorities. Babs swings off after a bonding moment with Steph over villain speeches and her dad the Cluemaster. Steph salutes, then notices the wristband she had admired earlier on her own wrist, and says, "Coooool" with a huge grin. Behind the Scenes: In this interview about the book, artist David Lafuente had some very interesting things to say: "'''Nrama': You're getting to draw Spoiler for the Batgirl Annual #3. How are you approaching her character? And what were your thoughts about the way you approached this story overall for the Batgirl Annual #3?'' ''Lafuente: My scene was an accidental team-up, so I wanted to play up the comedy. Batgirl writers Brenden Fletcher and Cameron Stewart’s dialogue was hilarious and I wanted to stress it.'' Batgirl and Spoiler are approaching the villain problem in different ways and their reactions to the other are the source of laughs. Since Batgirl was the more experienced of the two, I wanted to make her a bit more the annoyed pro. Her poses are tiny bit more decisive, more super-heroic if you will. Of course Spoiler is a great heroine as well. But since, in the story, she geeks out on Batgirl, I reserved the more exaggerated expressions for her. It was not without its difficulty. My issue of Batman Eternal was centered around her, yet the tone of the story was much darker. It took me a couple of redrawn panels to find a way to not draw her in the depressed state she was in that story." Lafuente also posted a process picture from layout to colors of the Steph on Babs fight scene, with some amazing expressions by Steph. Other Formats/Collected In: Digital Comic Book Batgirl: Family Business (Vol. 2) TPB Category:N52 Category:Spoiler Category:Appearances